One Hundred Dollars a Month - Page 1703 of 2143 - I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Mavis Garden Blog – Repotting Artichoke Seedlings

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 4, 2013 · 14 Comments

This morning I re-potted my artichoke seedlings I started on January 4th. I tried direct sowing some artichoke seeds late last summer, and they were off to a good start until the chickens gobbled them up. Bad chickens.

I have high hopes for this batch though, and if all goes as planned, I’ll have an entire 8×4 raised garden bed full of gorgeous artichoke plants by the end of the summer.

If you have never transplanted seedlings from a flat to individual pots before, here is how I do it.

For starters, I try and re-pot the seedlings once they have a couple true leaves {which is actually their second set of leaves, not the first set that emerge from the soil}.

When re-potting your seedlings try and avoid touching the roots as much as possible to avoid stressing them out too much.

Place a bit {about an inch or two} of potting soil in the bottom of the new container, place the seedling in and and enough potting soil to cover the roots. Press the soil gently around the plant to hold it in place.

Give the plant a drink.

Even though these artichoke plants were ready to move to a larger container, they are not ready to be transplanted outside until after the last spring frost date {around April 15th in Western Washington}. Since I am going to be running out of space soon in the office, I plan on purchasing a small heater for the greenhouse this week so I can slowly start to move my seedlings out to the greenhouse one at a time.

When I’m ready to move my starts out to the greenhouse, I’ll start with leaving them out in the heated greenhouse for an hour the first day, then two hours the next day, and then a few more then a few hours, until they are ready to reside in the greenhouse until mid-april when I’ll be able to plant them in the raised garden beds. It’s a process for sure, but a fun one at that.

Has the garden bug hit you yet? Got any dirt under those fingernails?

~Mavis

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Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 4, 2013 · 3 Comments

This past week was a pretty boring one in the grocery department. Mainly I stayed home and did a lot of baking and made a bunch of crock pot meals from what we had on hand so I could spend my time in the garden rather than in the kitchen.

Grocery shopping is funny, some weeks there are a ton of deals and it’s seems like you are buying everything under the moon, and other weeks you just feast off the contents of your pantry.

I think popping into the grocery store several times a week is so ingrained in our culture, we can’t imagine what it must have been like for the pioneers {or the Ingall’s} to have shopped only a few times a year for their groceries.

But then again, they were buying real food, in bulk, and harvesting all their vegetables from their backyard gardens.

QFC – $7.35

QFC has an awesome Mega Sale going on right now where you can pick up 2 free can of S&W Beans this week plus extras for $0.29 a can {go HERE to find out how} as well as Hunt’s diced tomatoes or tomato sauce for only $0.49 a can.

QFC – $10.58

Did you buy chips last week for the Super Bowl? Well, the HH and Monkey Boy were complaining that we had no “good” food in the house. While I was out buying milk, I picked up 2 bags of Lay’s so they could devour them like a bunch of wild animals in like 3 minutes flat. I don’t mind picking up chips for when I can get them for free or even $0.50, but when I have to waste $4 on them, it makes me a little crazy.

Harbor Greens Market – $2.99

We are all out of potatoes so I picked up a 10 pound bag for $1.99 and some avocados for $0.50 each so I could make guacamole dip for the boys.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

Lettuce for BLT’s and tacos, apples for snacking, bananas for smoothies and peanut butter banana bread, and I dehydrated all the mushrooms and plan to use them later in a soup. Free produce rocks people! You can read about how I am able to pick up free produce each week HERE if you don’t know how I do it already.

How did you do this week? Did you come across any super awesome deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $20.92
Total Spent This Year $371.78
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $81.90 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree!}

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

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Mavis Garden Blog – Rocks, Rocks and More Rocks

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 3, 2013 · 6 Comments

Today I hauled rocks, rocks, and more rocks. And I’m still not done.

Moving rocks from one side of the yard to the other isn’t exactly fun, but at least I’m getting my exercise in. Which is probably a good thing because the Tacoma City Marathon I signed up for is in exactly 90 days.

Do you think gardening counts as cross training? I think it should. Especially since I have been seriously slacking off in the “walk/jog/run” part of my training program. If I at least have the cross training {gardening} part covered, I should be fine. Right?

Oh well. I’ll still have another 75 feet of ~~cross training~~ shoveling dirt and moving rocks to go. And then I’ll be done. Yep, then I’ll have time to get some exercise in. Unless of course I find something else to do in the backyard.

What did you do today?Exercise? Shovel snow? Watch the game? Party like a rock star? Do tell, because I bet it was more exciting than moving rocks.

~Mavis

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How to Grow Endive {Start to Finish}

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 3, 2013 · Leave a Comment

This morning I planted a flat of endive. It was the first time I have ever planted it and I’m pretty excited. I’m not sure what I’m looking forward to more, it’s funny leaves or to actually eat it. All I know it that it looks cool, and therefore probably tastes cool too.

Brief description: Endive is a leafy green that classes up any salad. It also dresses up flower beds and gardens, as it is considered an ornamental edible, as well.

Where to Plant Endive: Plant in cool weather {early spring or late fall} in containers, beds, or raised beds.

{photo credit}

Planting Seeds: Start indoors 10-12 weeks before last frost and transplant outdoors 4-6 weeks after starting. Plant seeds about 1/4″ deep and thin to 1 plant per seed pot when plants reach about 1″.

Growing Tips: Care for endive much as you would lettuce. It does not need a particularly fertile soil to thrive and it tends to like cooler climates.

How to Harvest: Plants are ready to harvest when they reach about 10″-15″ tall. The entire plant can be harvested, leaving only the base. Tear off with your hands at the base of the plant.

Endive Recipes to Try:

Mixed Greens with Mustard Dressing – Bon Appetit

Fun Fact: Endive is a cool weather plant, and its taste actually improves after exposure to a frost.

Have you ever had endive before? What did you think?

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.